This invention relates generally to skiing equipment and, more particularly to a ski training apparatus that enables a trainer to control the direction of the skis of a trainee with a pair of ski poles.
Children and others unfamiliar with skiing often need the assistance of a ski instructor in order to learn how to control the direction of his skis, how to stop and start, how to control his speed, and the like. Sometimes, parents try to teach their children or ski instructors seek to teach others these basic skills through oral instruction, demonstration, or while the “trainee” holds on to a rope. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,681 proposes a handlebar held by a ski instructor that is connected to a ski student with lengthy straps that are attached to the student's waist or legs. Similarly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,445,866 and 5,074,795 propose various forms of tethering one or more ski instructors and students together during ski instruction or practice.
Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, these devices and methods of instruction may be ineffective or resisted by trainees who are just overly anxious to try actual skiing on their own, the trainees are often without “hands-on” assistance when embarking down a ski slope. In addition, the proposed training aids are focused on connecting a ski trainer with the body of a student rather than providing control over the direction of the student's skis.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a ski training apparatus that enables a ski trainer to control the direction of a student's skis using the trainer's ski poles removably coupled to the student's skis. Further, it would be desirable to have a ski training apparatus having respective guide members attached to respective skis that are configured to receive distal ends of respective ski poles such that directional manipulation of the ski poles causes the direction of the skis to be changed accordingly.